Internet data transfer control via a client system to reduce delay

ABSTRACT

Method and system aspects for allowing control of data transfer from at least one website on the Internet via a web browser on a client system are presented. 
     A method, and client system for performing same, includes establishing limits for allowable connection links to websites, comparing a current transfer session to allowable connection links, and controlling the current transfer session according to comparison results. The allowable connection links further include a list of unallowable website, a maximum time allowed for the current transfer session, and an image data size limit.

The present invention is related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. Nos. 08/762,905, entitled "Increased Control for Reduced Delay inInternet Data Transfers Based on Limitations Established in a ServerSystem," and Ser. No. 08/762,911, entitled "Filtered Utilization ofInternet Data Transfers to Reduce Delay and Increase User Control," bothfiled Dec. 10, 1996, and assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent application is related to utilizing the Internet via webbrowsers, and more particularly to a filtered utilization of theInternet via web browsers.

BACKGROUND

Utilization of the World Wide Web, i.e., a global hypermedia documentthat resides on and stretches across most of the Internet, commonlyinvolves a web browser interface program, such as Netscape Navigator, toaccess hypermedia documents, commonly referred to as web pages. Sites onthe Internet are chosen by a user usually by entering a site address,i.e., a URL (uniform resource locator), or by selecting a link on adisplayed web page of a current site. A typical arrangement for suchutilization is illustrated by the block diagram of FIG. 1. A user on aclient computer system 10 addresses a web site hosted by a remote serversystem 12. The remote server 12 accesses the chosen web site by locatinga local file 14 storing the data for the addressed web site. The remoteserver 12 then transfers the data for the website to the client system10. With the World Wide Web utilizing a standard protocol, e.g.,HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), for transferring information acrossthe Internet and web software following this protocol, informationtransfer occurs between the remote server 12 and client system 10.

During the process of requesting a site and transferring data, theclient system 10 waits. Unfortunately when the site being accessedcontains large image files, the wait for data transfer can becomeexcessive. Also, in certain situations, such as international web sitesor sites with server problems, data transfer is slow. The time wastedwaiting is not only inconvenient to the user, but may be costly forthose situations in which users pay for use of the Internet based on thelength of connection time.

Usual attempts to end the delay involve the selection of a stop transferfunction, e.g., selection of a stop button icon in the web browser.While the delay is ended, the selection of the stop function completelyends data transfer, thus stopping not only a large image transfer butthe transfer of text information in the information stream from theserver as well. Alternatively, the user can choose to speed up transferby switching to a text only, ASCII version for the browser interface. Ofcourse, the elimination of images from the interface defeats the purposeof the having a graphical browser for the web pages and limits the depthof the information provided.

Accordingly, what is needed is a system that allows more flexible andconvenient control over the transfer of data, including image data,between client and server systems on the Internet.

SUMMARY

The present invention meets these needs and provides method and systemaspects for allowing control of data transfer from at least one websiteon the Internet via a web browser on a client system. In a methodaspect, the method includes establishing user-defined limits forallowable image size from a selected link for a website, and comparingimage data from the website with the allowable image size. The methodfurther includes filtering the image data from the website when theimage data exceeds the allowable image size, with filtering includingdisplaying a representation of the image data without limiting texttransfer from the website.

In a further aspect, a method for allowing user control of data transferfrom at least one website on the Internet via a web browser on a clientsystem includes establishing limits for allowable connection links towebsites, comparing a current transfer session to allowable connectionlinks, and controlling the current transfer session according tocomparison results. The allowable connection links further include alist of unallowable websites, a maximum time allowed for the currenttransfer session, and an image data size limit.

In a system aspect, a client system includes mechanisms for establishinglimits for allowable connection links to websites, for comparing acurrent transfer session to the allowable connection links, and forcontrolling the current transfer session according to comparisonresults.

With the present invention, more efficient transfer of data from aserver system hosting a website to a client system requesting access tothe website is achieved. Limitations for maximum image size and lengthof time for transfer attempts readily facilitate reduction in delayscommonly associated with data transfers on the Internet. These and otheradvantages will be more fully understood with the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical client-server system arrangement forInternet site access.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of filtered utilization of Internetaccess in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a more detailed flow diagram of preferred embodimentsof filtered utilization of Internet access.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to providing greater user control in theprocess of transferring data on the Internet via web browsers. Thefollowing description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill inthe art to make and use the illustrative embodiment and is provided inthe context of a patent application and its requirements. Variousmodifications to the illustrative embodiment will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may beapplied to other embodiments. Thus, the illustrative embodiment is notintended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and features describedherein.

In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention,flexible limits are capably included to provide better control overInternet data transfer via a web browser. The following providesdescriptions of controls based on image size limits, time of transferlimits, and allowed link limits. Of course, the principles of thepresent invention may be extended to include other limits withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Further,in the following discussion, references to client systems and serversystems suitably refer to appropriate computer systems that handleInternet interaction by well known techniques. The references toprogramming in the system and alterations to those programs are suitablystored on computer readable mediums, such as hard disk drives, as iswell understood by those skilled in the art.

The preferred embodiments are provided generally by the flow diagram ofFIG. 2 with a more detailed discussion of specific embodiments withreference to the flow chart of FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 2, the processbegins with the selection of a link (step 20) by a user on a clientsystem 10 (FIG. 1) to establish a current transfer session, where a linksuitably refers to a web address entered as an address string, e.g., anhttp:// string for an html (hypertext mark-up language) environment, orrepresented by an image, icon, or text label in a web page, such as anhtml document. The process then continues by determining whether theselected link is within established limits (step 22). The establishedlimits preferably refer to image size limits, time of transfer limits,and allowed link limits. When the selected link does meet theestablished limits, the process proceeds with standard link connectionand data transfer (step 24), as is well known to those skilled in theart, before repetition of the process with a next selected link (step20). When the selected link does not meet all the established limits,the process proceeds with a limited data transfer, including no datatransfer, (step 26), in accordance with the present invention beforereturning and repeating the process for a next selected link (step 20).

FIG. 3 illustrates more particularly processes involved in determiningwhether the selected link is within established limits (step 22, FIG. 2)and providing limited data transfer (step 26, FIG. 2). It should beappreciated that although a particular sequence of determinations ispresented, the sequence, types, and numbers of determinations may bealtered according to particular needs and desired implementations oflimit selections without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

LINK TYPE LIMITATIONS

As shown in FIG. 3, once a link is selected (step 20, FIG. 2), adetermination of whether the link is an allowable link or link type issuitably made (step 30). By way of example, a user on a client system 10or an administrator on a server system 12 suitably establishes a list ofspecific links, such as links for pornographic web sites, that are notallowed for connection and data transfer to restrict access, such as bychildren, to such links. The determination suitably occurs by alteringthe client system's 10 or server system's 12 programming to perform acomparison between the selected requester list and a stored set ofunallowed links. Once the determination is completed, when the selectedrequestor list does match an unallowed link, data transfer is suitablynot allowed and an indication of no connection due to a blocked link ispreferably provided on a display of the client system 10 (step 32). Theprocess then continues with a next selected link (step 20).

TIME TO LOAD LIMITATION

When the selected requestor list is an allowed link, suitably the linkis established and loading of the data for a web page associated withthe link is begun (step 34). A next determination occurs by determiningwhether the time spent loading the web page is taking longer than apredetermined time period, e.g., approximately 45-60 seconds, (step 36).The necessary programming to perform the comparison is suitably providedby the client system 10 or by the server system 12 to automaticallycheck for transfers taking longer than the predetermined time period.Alternatively, communication of the time period limit by the clientsystem 10 to the server system 12 occurs to allow the server system 12to perform the comparison. When the time limit is exceeded, suitably theattempt to transfer is stopped and an indication that the transferexceeded the time limit is provided on the client system (step 38)before processing continues with a next selected link (step 20).

IMAGE SIZE LIMITATION

When the time limit is not exceeded, loading of the web page continues(step 40). As images in the web page are being transferred, preferably adetermination of whether an image exceeds a predetermined number ofbytes, e.g., 50 Kbytes (kilobytes), is made (step 42). When the imagedoes exceed the predetermined number of bytes, suitably the transfer ofthe image does not fully proceed (step 44). In one embodiment, thetransfer of the image is suitably stopped and a representation of theimage, such as by an image icon, along with an indication of the image'ssize acts as a replacement for the image in the display of the web page.Alternatively, the image is suitably loaded until the size limit isreached, so that a partial image with an indication of the total size ofthe image remains on the web page. The comparison programming andcontrol of display of a partial image or image representation and sizeindication is suitably included in the client system 10 or in the serversystem 12. When done by the server system 12, preferably the serversystem 12 only transfers full images less than the size limit andtransfers a representation or partial image with the size indication forimages above the size limit. Alternatively, the client system 10suitably communicates to the server system 12 the size limit for imagesthat the server system 12 then is programmed to monitor, with the clientsystem 10 or server system 12 providing the representation for theimages exceeding the size limit in the web page.

Once the partial image/image representation processing is complete orwhen the image is less than the predetermined size limit, the processcontinues with the loading of the web page (step 40) until the loadingis completed, as determined via step 46. Once the loading is completed,the process continues with a next selected link (step 20). Of course, anext selected link may include a link associated with an image onlypartially displayed or an image representation associated with an imagethat exceeded the size limitation.

Suitably, when the client system 10 is used to control the limits, thebrowser program supports selection of the limits by a user through achosen set of limit control functions. By way of example, the set oflimit control functions may be capably accessed via a separate pull downmenu in the graphical interface of the browser program. Further, inorder to provide greater control over the selection of limits, theability to change the limits may be restricted by use of a user-selectedpassword, as would be desirable when restricting children's access toselected links. Further, for the embodiments where the client system 10and server system 12 interact together to provide the necessarymonitoring and filtering process, in addition to alterations in theprogramming of each system, an alteration to the communicationprogramming for data transfer between the systems suitably occurs toensure proper translation of limits and corresponding filtering results.By way of example, an appropriate alteration provides standardidentification for limit indications in the hypertext transfer protocoland html programming for the web pages.

With the embodiments of the present invention, greater user control overthe transfer of data from a remote Internet location to a local systemis achieved. By restricting access to particular websites or types ofwebsites, users avoid wasting time downloading data from predeterminedundesirable locations. Further, by limiting the amount of time transfersmay take, users gain greater control by avoiding the inefficiency ofwaiting for a transfer from a problematic server. In addition, theauthority to set a maximum image size provides great flexibility andavoids the frustration of restricting information transfer to text-onlyto increase transfer speed. Further, the user is better able to stillreceive the textual data and image data below the maximum size tomaintain the integrity of the graphical interface without being slowedby excessive transfer times for image files.

Although the system and method has been described in accordance with theembodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readilyrecognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and thosevariations would be within the spirit and scope of the above-describedsystem and method. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one ofordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for allowing user control of data transfer from at least one website on the Internet via a web browser on a client system, the method comprising:establishing user-defined limits for allowable image size from a selected link for a website; comparing image data from the website with the allowable image size; and filtering the image data from the website when the image data exceeds the allowable image size.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein filtering further comprises displaying a representation of the image data without limiting text transfer from the website.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein displaying a representation further comprises displaying an image icon with an indication of the size of the image.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein filtering further comprises displaying the image data until the allowable image size is reached.
 5. A method for allowing user control of data transfer from at least one website on the Internet via a web browser on a client system, the method comprising:establishing limits for allowable connection links to websites, including establishing an image data size limit; comparing a current transfer session to allowable connection links, including comparing image data from the current transfer session with the image data size limit; and controlling the current transfer session according to comparison results, including displaying a representation of the image data with an indication of the size of the image without limiting text transfer from the website when the image data exceeds the image data size limit.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein establishing limits for allowable connection links further comprises establishing a list of unallowable websites.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein comparing further comprises comparing an address for the current transfer session to a list of unallowable addresses.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein controlling the current transfer session further comprises not allowing connection when the address for the current transfer session matches an address on the list of unallowable addresses.
 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising displaying an indication that the current transfer session was blocked.
 10. The method of claim 5 wherein establishing limits further comprises establishing a maximum time allowed for the current transfer session.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein comparing further comprises comparing transfer time of the current transfer session with the maximum time.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein controlling further comprises aborting the current transfer session when the transfer time of the current transfer session exceeds the maximum time.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising displaying an indication that the current transfer session aborted due to a time limit infraction.
 14. The method of claim 5 wherein displaying a representation further comprises displaying an image icon.
 15. The method of claim 5 wherein controlling further comprises displaying the image data until the allowable image size is reached.
 16. A client system for allowing user control of data transfer from websites on the Internet via a web browser, the client system comprising:means for establishing limits for allowable connection links to websites, including means for establishing an image data size limit; means for comparing a current transfer session to the allowable connection links, including means for comparing image data from the current transfer session with the image data size limit; and means for controlling the current transfer session according to comparison results, including means for displaying a representation of the image data with an indication of the size of the image without limiting text transfer from the website when the image data exceeds the image data size limit.
 17. The client system of claim 16 wherein the means for displaying a representation further comprises means for displaying an image icon.
 18. The client system of claim 16 wherein the means for controlling further comprises means for displaying the image data until the allowable image size is reached.
 19. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for allowing user control of data transfer from at least one website on the Internet via a web browser on a client system, the program instructions comprising:establishing limits for allowable connection links to websites, including establishing an image data size limit; comparing a current transfer session to allowable connection links, including comparing image data from the current transfer session with the image data size limit; and controlling the current transfer session according to comparison results, including displaying a representation of the image data with an indication of the size of the image without limiting text transfer from the website when the image data exceeds the image data size limit. 